


from last spring

by inareese



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, and Marx's shoujo heart, featuring not so implied Leon/Takumi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 20:17:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4719089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inareese/pseuds/inareese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe this is a seasonal thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	from last spring

When the sakura trees are in bloom and the world is adorned with a blaze of greens, Marx’s traitorous heart decides to beat a little faster when he sees Ryouma silhouetted against the blue, blue sky.

 _He's breathtaking among nature_ , he thinks suddenly, and his steps falter for a second. _You don't find that to be untrue_ , the gentle pattering of his heart against his ribcage announces with each thump. Marx doesn't remember the last time he felt this unsure. He closes his eyes, inhales all the vibrancy and life of spring, and wills his heart to settle down.

"Your country is magnificent in spring," is what he says at last, voice steady even as a flutter of something alights in his stomach. _Stop it_ , he tells his twitching fingers, his fluttering stomach, his pounding heart.

Ryouma finds his eyes, gaze thoughtful and mild. "They say home is where the heart is, but sometimes, isn't home a person, and not a place?" This isn’t just my home anymore, Marx hears laced amongst Ryouma's nonchalant tone. For the first time in a long while, Marx finds himself at a loss for words and takes another sharp breath, irregular _thump thump_ s resounding in his ears.

*

Even at night when the world starts to cool, summers in Hoshido are full of warmth he hasn't felt in a long time. Marx prides himself on being a rational person, and blames the flush on his cheeks on the excitement wreathed throughout the air, the hustle and bustle of the festival, the heat hanging heavy in the wind. 

"Are you sure you won’t be missed?" He questions, even as he settles into a comfortable position on the grassy hill.

"Let them have their fun. We have the best view from here," Ryouma promises from where he's perched next to Marx, his face softening as a fond smile tugs at his lips, gaze sweeping across the cluster of lights down below that make up the festival.

Marx finds that he can't turn away, eyes tracing the crinkle at the edge of Ryouma's eyes as he smiles, the way the lines on his face smoothen out. He wants to engrain this moment into his memory forever.

Ryouma suddenly turns around to face him, and he fights the urge to avert his eyes guiltily. He sees Ryouma open his mouth, but his words are swallowed up by sharp crack of fireworks blooming to life as they scatter color into dark sky. Ryouma makes a helpless gesture and turns back around again, giving his full attention to showers of light high above. Even so, Marx's gaze never leaves Ryouma's, breath hitching as he studies his figure, wreathed in firework lights. Ryouma, with his face tilted to the sky, Ryouma, with eyes reflecting the radiance of the colors from above, Ryouma, as he blinks, eyelashes fluttering against a backdrop of a multitude of colors.

"You should've seen how determined Sakura and Elize were," Ryouma says when it’s all over and the stars are the brightest objects in the sky again. "They were going to 'paint the sky bright with life and cheer' in order to 'bring a smile to everyone's faces' and no one could stop them." He quotes, that fond look settling on his face again. 

"It was beautiful," Marx assures him, despite never looking away from him once.

* 

Draped in gold and orange, the world dies a little with each leaf that flutters to the ground. Marx watches Camilla and Hinoka chase each other in the sky and doesn’t miss how Camilla’s eyes light up as she ducks out of Hinoka's way, at how her whole face softens as a smile curls at her lips in response to Hinoka tilting her head and saying something to her.

"It's been too long since I've heard Hinoka laugh like that," Ryouma's voice comes from seemingly nowhere and Marx starts, swallowing down a soft sound of surprise.

(No one had been able to sneak up on him since the war begun.  _That was seasons ago_ , Camilla's laughter tells him as it drifts through the air.)

Marx lets out an almost inaudible sigh. 

Ryouma's ears seem to miss nothing. "Don’t care much for autumn?" He asks as Ryouma settles down on the ground beside him in one fluid movement.

"Back in Nohr, I used to watch the trees lose their leaves and think that they’d never grow back." Is his reply as he closes his eyes, breathing in the crisp autumn air as the sound of Hinoka's lilting laugh mixes with Camilla's until he can't tell which is which.

"But you’re  _here_  now, aren’t you?" He hears in a slow and steady tone, and swears he feels the gentle brush of a hand against his for a second. Startled, his eyes jolt open again.

Time narrows down to just the two of them. In the midst of a muted, dying world, Marx finds a splash of vibrant red.

The world is crowned in dull browns and yellows as he finally realizes he may be in love.

*

Snowflakes slowly drift down to blanket the ground, the world far too silent for Marx's taste. Hoshidan winters aren’t as unforgiving as Nohr's, and he finds himself up and out early in the morning, wandering idly with only a light jacket and a scarf.

"Not afraid of the cold?" He hears and turns, stifling a smile at the sight of Ryouma bundled in a thick coat, figure swallowed by layers and layers of clothing, the tips of his nose and ears tinged with bright red.

"Crown Prince Ryouma, defeated by the cold,” Marx says with as much seriousness as he could muster as Ryouma crosses his arms and shoots him an offended look that lasts for all of two seconds. He closes the distance between them in a heartbeat and Ryouma's comeback is cut off with a small sound of surprise as Marx nimbly unwraps his scarf and loops it around him.

"You seem to need it more than I do," Marx says nonchalantly in reply to Ryouma’s surprised look, and if his cheeks are a bit redder than usual, well, it is chilly outside after all.

Ryouma’s face almost seems to be flushed as well as he tugs the scarf more securely around his neck, and Marx finds himself suddenly unwilling to attribute this to the cold.

The world is frosty as the wind bites and nips at his face and fingers, but Marx can feel warmth spreading out with each unsteady thump of his heart and knows this is the warmest he's ever been.

*

Spring comes again and the world inhales in all the vibrant colors, alive and awake once more.

"Don’t move," Ryouma says as he leans over and plucks a cherry blossom out of Marx’s hair. Flower in one hand, he tucks a strand of Marx’s hair behind his ear with the other and leans down slightly to steal a kiss. 

A strong gust of wind stirs up and sends the cherry blossoms scattering into the air, the one in Ryouma’s hand drifting off to settle on the grass. Amidst the flurry of pink, Marx leans into Ryouma and knows that his heart has finally found its home.

**Author's Note:**

> Leon raises his head as the wind picks up, the pages of his book fluttering. “Ever since last spring," He says, amusement lacing his voice as his gaze finds what he was looking for amidst a flurry of pink. "It took them long enough."
> 
> Takumi doesn’t open his eyes from where his head is resting on Leon’s shoulder. “Obliviousness probably runs in the family. I should know.” He murmurs drowsily.
> 
> Leon sets his book aside with a hand and makes a thoughtful noise, reaching up to brush his fingers through strands of soft hair.
> 
> “You should know.” he agrees quietly as he looks down at his other hand and gives their entwined fingers a gentle squeeze.


End file.
